2017 April Holidays and Special Days are the Best for Planning your Classroom or Homeschool Curriculum
April, 2017! It's Spring in the states. We look forward to Spring Activities outdoors and bringing flowers indoors. Easter generally occurs in April, but sometimes March. When is Easter? The first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox. Say what?Easter is tricky, it can occur March 22 - April 25.Check here for dates. We've found some fun, unique,April Holidays that will keep your curriculum exciting and new. Enjoy!
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Rushed Time before School can Turn into Memorable Moments with a Daily Conversation added to your Family Mission
Make everyday count with Breakfast conversation bites.
If you are like me, your early morning routine is rushed, scattered, and not always in the best of family spirits. We try, but getting ready and organized for school is hectic. If only, we were well organized and had enough time to prep he everything the night before- but our lifestyles don't always allow for such structured free time. I'm a Homeschool Mommy. It sounds far easier than it is - well, it did to me. As the principal, teacher, gym instructor, and music director, (plus my full-time job as a social media manager) life is often stressed, and I rarely have time to focus on the little things... the important things.
Kellogg’s® Frosted Mini-Wheats® and Scholastic partnered and then contacted me to write about #mini-missions™ it hit home. We do a lot of things for others. We are always up to something for community service or helping friends. It is time to focus on us! So, this week, we did just that. Thanksgiving is nearing, and it is a good time to remember what we are thankful for this year. Our Mini-mission is to continue to collect toys and clothing for area Christmas drives. November is a great month to collect donations as people are beginning to get into the holiday spirit. Sometimes, we collect gift wrap and tape to donate. Other times, we get clothing, books, or toys. Always, we remind ourselves how giving back does the heart good.
Each day at breakfast, we focused on a simple conversation starter. This is a great way to learn more about your kids' interest and what makes their mind tick. My children love to explore theoretical concepts... you know, why is the sky blue? So, I went with it. Plan out a conversation starter each day. Do your homework. If you are going to ask and answer questions like, 'why is the sky blue', you better know your stuff. Research ideas online the night before. Here are a few of our conversation starters, and the fun answers we came up with for our conversation bites #mini-missions™.
Day One
Q: What is your favorite memory from helping with community service this year?
A: I don't know.
Momteruption: Try again.
A: Cake Pops?
Momteruption: What about them?
A: They were good!
Momteruption: Well... they were good weren't they, but what else?
A: I am happy April made the cake pops and donated her time for Santa's Elves of Indy.
A: I was happy to help Daddy that day.
Mom: It is nice to spend time as a family working to help others!
Day Two
Q: Today is the first day of the rest of your life what are you going to do?
A: Ride on Nebu (our pet bird.)
Momteruption: Try again.
A: Ride on a Tiger.
Momteruption: Something, you can do today!
A: I don't know.
Momteruption: Well.. I would try to be more positive from this day forward and always think about what I can do to make life better.
A: I will take care of the chickens!
Momteruption: *sigh* Well, that's a good start.
Day Three
Q: Why is it important to sit down and eat a healthy breakfast?
A: Because food is fuel!
A: Because you are hungry and need food to live.
Momteruption: Those are both good reasons. Food is like fuel it gives us important vitamins and mineral.
Kidteruption: Yeah, like these on the Frosted Mini-Wheats™ box.
Momteruption: Exactly! It is a part of a healthy breakfast, we should have fruit and milk or juice too so we'll be ready to learn!
Kidteruption: Like Bananas!
This is just a sampling of our conversation bites. You can see, it is harder than it looks, but as the days the progressed, the kids began to warm up to the idea :)
Breakfast before School: Introduction to the Every Day is a Big Day program
When your family completes a Mini™ Mission, you can earn free Scholastic books for your family and a chance to win prizes for your school and community. Visit scholastic.com/minimissions to register your family for the Every Day is a Big Day program. Each month, log in and complete a new Mini™Mission to earn 2 free Scholastic books for your family.
When your family completes a Mini™ Mission, you are also entered into a sweepstakes where 131 prizes will be awarded to schools and communities each month. Download free monthly stories chronicling Mini’s™ adventures against the evil Skipper. Kellogg’s® Frosted Mini-Wheats® and Scholastic have partnered to bring you the Every Day is a Big Day program, created to benefit families, schools and communities across the country.
Your family is invited to complete monthly Mini™ Missions to get free books for your family. Also, each month you’ll be entered into a sweepstakes for the chance to win one of 131 valuable prizes for your school and community. As you earn books and enter the sweepstakes, your family is sure to have a blast and learn something new along the way!
Start here and register for your first monthly mission!
This is a sponsored conversation by me on behalf of Kellogg's(R) Frosted Mini-Wheats(R). The opinions and text are all mine.
Let's face it, kids don't want to paint a boring color wheel. Change up your color wheel lesson for your intro or homeschool art class with these creative ideas for a color wheel! It's still a basic rainbow color wheel, but when you let students add their own flair, it becomes an art project that they are happy to display.
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Simply show the students a basic color wheel or grab some prisms to teach the color order of the rainbow and let their imaginations run wild! You can use markers, tempera paint, or water colors. Water colors tend to blend easier for a gradual, visual color change. Use tempera for an exact mixing of primary, secondary, and tertiary colors. There's more to color than ROY G. BIV.
What order do the colors go on the wheel? It depends where you start. Think about a rainbow or use a prism to display the colors in their natural light spectrum order. Allow students to paint anything they want as long as they demonstrate an understanding of the rainbow color wheel order.
Carrots. Bunnies eat them. They are rumored good for eyesight. What else are carrots good for? Here are some simple, easy, snack carrot recipes your kids will enjoy- just in time for Easter.
Yummy, Easy Carrot Recipes: No Bunnies Allowed.
Carrots are good in lots of recipes, not just carrot cake. We found Carrot Pancakes from Iowa Girl Eats blog, adorable Bird's Nest Carrot Cupcakes from How Sweet Treats blog, and an Apple Carrot Smoothie from Akers of Love blog. Click the links below to visit their pages.
1. Balloon Charades. Grabs some stationary and write down ideas for Charades. What are charades? How do you play charades? You know, when you act something out, pull on your ear for "sounds like", put two fingers in the air to signify two words, but you never speak. Yeah, that game. So, fold the paper up into skinny rectangles, slide it inside a balloon, blow it up, and use it as a party decoration. When you are ready to play charades give each guest a balloon. Have her pop it - sitting on it is the most fun, read it, and act it out for the other guests to guess. Super Fun! Yeah, you can do this with "Truth or Dare" too, but oh how I loathe Truth or Dare. Shouldn't it be called "Humiliation or Bullying?"
Bonus Activity: Giant Cupcake Balloon for Party
Want a cool photo op for your social media? Make this Balloon Cupcake with your friends and then use it as a backdrop for your photos! Click here: How to Make Giant Cupcake from Balloons!
2. Sleeping Bag Switch. For this game, each girl brings a sleeping bag or sleeping pad to the party. To start the game, the girls unroll their bags and lay them out on the floor. Then, one girl goes out of the room and the remaining girls pick someone else's bag to hide in. The girl then returns and tries to guess who is who or who is where. You can also have only two girls switch, and see if she can tell who switched. Fun times!
3. Crazy Makeovers. Time to pull out the make up, and let the girls give each other makeovers. No peeking until it is done. The beautician can choose to make a crazy makeover or a beautiful, glamorous one. The girl getting the makeup has to guess which type of makeover she got before the big reveal.
4. Spin the Nail Polish Bottle. Each girl takes a turn picking out a color and spinning the bottle. This works best on a table. Who ever the bottle points to when it finishes spinning paints a nail with that color. Then, she chooses the next color to spin. When everyone has 10 nails painted, take a picture and share them with your friends on Instagram. Make sure you have lots of color choices!
Choose a variety of colors for Nail Polish Spin the Bottle game.
5. Make your Own Glitter Body Scrub. Find small jars that seal tightly, fine glitter, (white is nice) coconut oil, (a wonderful moisturizer for the scrub) scented extract, and sugar or coarse salt. Sugar is best. Salt is great for exfoliating, but bad if it gets in your eyes. Choose an extract: Peppermint, Almond (my favorite) Coconut, or Vanilla. Add a few drops of extract to the sugar and glitter to make a paste. Now you have your own moisturizer and exfoliator. When purchasing coconut oil you want this kind, extra virgin coconut oil.
Coconut Oil for Glitter Scrub.
6. Dress Up Divas. Go to a thrift shop and find evening gowns or formal wear and fancy heels the girls can use to dress up. Place the gowns in a large bag. Before you let the girls see the gowns, have them make blindfolds that double as beauty masks. Once everyone is blindfolded, have them choose a dress by touch alone. After they model the dresses, they can trade and have a fashion show or make up a reality show. Don't forget a full-length mirror.
For a blindfold or sleeping mask tutorial visit Henry Happened blog.
7. Pillowcase Decorating Activity.Purchase pillowcases to decorate. Grab fabric makers, tacky glue, and ribbon. You can also find fun, iron on transfers to embellish. If you plan in advance, you can decorate a large gift bag for each guest. Load it up with all that Birthday Party Swag!
8. Pillow Fight.A classic game. As part of the swag bag items, create mini-pillows. You can often find little pillows at the dollar store or use travel pillows. Decorate them as mentioned above. When it is time for bed, be a cool party host. Tell the girls to grab their mini-pillows. On your mark, set, pillow fight! Just watch out for the lamps! You're going to need a big full-body pillow for this pillow fight! Bonus Activity: Easy Colorful Cupcake Frosting
Make this easy, colorful cupcake icing and decorate cakes or cookies with your friends! Share on Instagram or other social media with #cupcaketime Get the recipe here: Easy Cupcake Frosting.
9. Flip Flop Decorating Activity. Find out the Flip Flop shoe sizes of each guest before the party. Get some yarn, baubles, Sharpie Markers, and cloth scraps. Decorate to your heart's desire. Toss them in that swag bag to take home.
10. Cup Stacking. When you are buying party supplies, get some extra cups for the party guests to stack. Take turns to see who can get the most cups stacked in a minute or who has the most creative tower. Even better, everyone can start at the same time. This makes it more nerve wracking and chaotic! Hey, don't knock my tower down!
Minute to Win it Games for a Birthday Party.
11. Minute to Win it Games. Imagine the possibilities! Just like cup stacking, come up with several activities that can be completed in one minute. Everyone grab one of those cups. Set it in the middle of a table, grab a Ping Pong ball, and with only one bounce allowed, bounce the ball into the cup. Hurry! The clock is ticking. Tick Tock. You can also use the a cup to fill a bucket with water (use a colorful sand pail).
Bonus Activity:Toothpaste Slime
Trick your friends with this toothpaste slime. You'll need 1 C. Blue Hair Gel, 1/2 C. Cornstarch, Water, Super Fine White Glitter. Slowly add water to 1/3 C. Cornstarch by the spoonful, stir until all is mixed well and becomes pour-able. Then, slowly stir cornstarch mixture into the hair gel. When it all has a thick toothpaste consistency, sprinkle in the super fine glitter. Voila! You have fake toothpaste. See if you can trick your parents with it. Of course, this toothpaste slime isn’t edible!!
Did you know real toothpaste isn’t edible either? You should always spit it out after brushing. Don’t forget to brush your teeth with real toothpaste every morning (even at a slumber party!)
Parents, if you’ve got one of those kids, who doesn’t like to go to the dentist, ABC Children’s Dentistry offers more valuable tips to help you and your child when it comes to oral hygiene. Dental hygiene is something that should be taught at an early age. Why not make it fun? Here’s a neat sensory toothpaste activity for preschoolers by Still Playing School.
12. Dance Off. Time for the girls to get their dance moves on and have fun. This is great to play after the Dress up Diva game. She who dances the longest wins. Ha! You thought it was a game of skill. Nope. It is a game of "get them tired so they don't put your panties in the freezer!" Sweet Dreams. What's that? You're dreaming of popsicles?
13. Board Games. Don't think "bored" games. These board games are fun because each girl makes her own game to play or collaborate on one super, cool game. Cereal boxes, paper plates, and the white side of the wrapping paper are great ways to make a board. Paper plates make game spinners. Old, recycled business cards make excellent playing cards or game cards. Stickers are fun too. Fold paper and cut it into a cube pattern to make your own dice. Still boring? Take those balloons and fill them with game topics. For example, "Make a game about Rock Stars" or "Make a Mall Shopping Card Game" or "Make a game of questions." Let your imaginations run wild. This can be especially fun for preteens and tweens.
14. Classic Board Games. Find out who your moguls are when you pull out the Monopoly game or start up the giggles with Trouble. But that's boring, right? Pass around a basket of accessories. Think grandma glasses, nerd spectacles, giant clip-on earrings, men's ties, satin gloves, and cowboy hats. Now, play those games in character with silly accents. 15. Slurpin' for Worms. Gummy Worm Game Grab a bag of gummi worms or gummi bears and a can of whipped cream. Place the worms on a paper plate and cover them with the cream. It should look like a fake pie, you know, the kind you get in the face? Yeah, you might want to wear a raincoat for this one, and Mom might want to lay down a painting drop cloth. Players must keep their hands behind their backs at all times. Dive in. This is a great game for "Minute to Win It" too. Who can slurp up the most worms? Who can eat the most?
Been indoors packing on the pounds? It's time to shed the layers of clothing and get outside and play. Growing up, I was chronically skinny except for a brief time in 5th and 6th grade. Due to health issues and medication, as I got older, the weight crept up every couple of years. When motivated, it's easy to get the weight off and drop pounds. Now, as the aging mommy of two kids, the motivation rarely comes and the weight sticks around. I did find a little motivation by plugging my numbers into a BMI calculator. Scroll down to use it, the first BMI Calculator picture is a just pinnable image for Pinterest. Enjoy!
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Pin this image to save to Pinterest.
Below is the actual, interactive, online BMI CALCULATOR.
Motivation. I've worked on upping my food intake. Yes, upping. I never ate more than once a day. Now, I try to eat three times a day with snacks.I've reinvented meals. I rarely sit down to eat, and I don't fill my plate in a food pyramid with one "meal." For me, that means a yogurt here, a banana there, a peanut butter sandwich, or veggies with dip spread throughout the day. I do eat everything in the food pyramid, but not in one sitting. Should you eat dairy? at 45, I found out I was allergic to milk (not lactose intolerant.) I ditched milk and rarely eat ice cream. Yogurt and cheese don't cause me problems, so I'm able to fulfill my dairy needs. I also discovered a had hyperparathyroidism, so now I take vitamin D softgels every day.
I tried to ditch the pop, but that didn't work. However, I've made little changes. Food before pop in the morning. One soda or less per day. You'd think I'd gain weight, but I didn't gain a pound. In fact, I lost a few. I tried to find a picture to share, but I run from the camera. Below, is the best I can do for a before picture. On the positive side, the weight always seemed to keep me looking younger. These days, aside from being old, I'm fairly healthy. Unfortunately, the BMI calculator doesn't agree. Another option is to find a good Weight Tracker App. With an app on your phone, you can track everything on the go.
**UPDATE (2016) I've lost over 30 lbs. and kept it off. My biggest tip is to stop eating bread (any sort of gluten). Also, take a daily probiotic. I've ditched the pop! Started by swapping Mountain Dew for Sierra Mist (natural sugars and sweeteners) and then I switched to Coca-Cola Zero. I'm working on swapping this for Propel. I drink a lot of Propel, but I want my caffeine. My go to snack is Vanilla Oikos Triple Zero try it in a Strawberry Smoothie. In the past, I was too sick to exercise. The weight loss was all diet related. Bread, cereal, cake, cupcakes, doughnuts, bagels, pizza, pasta- all gone from my diet during the weight loss. Since I've been able to exercise, I do eat them occasionally. I plan to lose 20 more lbs. this year, by adding exercise.
*I'm not a doctor. These are what worked for me. No health advice is implied.
2010
2016
What do you wish you could do differently to improve your health?
Positive Weight Loss Goals
**UPDATE (2019)
I'm 50 now and look better than I've looked in years! Still eating while on the move and using resistance bands for stretching every day. Working on losing 10 more pounds. I'm able to walk, do squats, bike ride, etc. I've even started kayaking! If you told me 10 years ago that I'd be kayaking, I would've laughed in your face! Getting fit allowed me to get healthy. So many health issues have disappeared. I'm thinking about running marathons. Not sure my knees can take it. We'll see.
Hey Girl Scouts! Bake a Rainbow Drink Coaster in your Oven with Pony Beads
Michelle at, Life is My Lemonade, is guest posting. Michelle is busy with her daughter's Girl Scout Troop. They are always up to some new, creative endeavor. This time they are crafting up a rainbow with Pony Beads. We've crafted with Pony Beads in the past, but we always used an iron. How fun to bake them like a cookie! Enjoy!
Being a Girl Scout leader requires you to have craft materials on hand. After a project is finished, you have leftovers. We had a lot of leftover Pony Beads. The girls decided to do something different from swaps. We landed on rainbow drink coasters. Scroll down to see how to make rainbow drink coasters with Pony Beads.
Megan making her Rainbow Coaster.
Recipe for Rainbow Coasters:
You will need:
30 Red Pony Beads
24 Orange Pony Beads
18 Yellow Pony Beads
12 Green Pony Beads
5 Blue Pony Beads
1 Purple Pony Bead
The pan used for the coaster was a 4 x 1 1/4 Round Cake Pan.
Arrange the beads with the holes up and then bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Choose which coaster you like best, and set the stove timer accordingly.
Transparent Pony Beads Baked for 15 minutes.
Beads melted in pan. Once they cool, they pop right out,
50+ Easy Circle Time Games for Three, Four, and Five Years Group Time for preschoolers often happens several times a day, you need fres...
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